I6 5 



Forest Administration in the Native States in 1903. 



This report on the Forest Administration of the Native State's in 

 1903 ha^ recently been published and shows a great deal of w ork 

 done. We extract from it the following notes of more general in- 

 terest : — 



Gutta percha. — A valuable area of 14,199 acres nearKuang, was 

 found to be rich in Gutta percha, and an extension of 5,000 acres 

 was proposed at Rantau Panjang, also full of the same plant. There 

 is a tree at the latter locality measuring 41 inches at 4^ feet from 

 the ground which has been watched for seed for three years but 

 produced none. The trees in Negri Sembilan flowered in February 

 and March but produced no seed. In the Trollah reserve, Perak, 

 the clearing made in 1902 greatly benefited the young trees which 

 range from 24 inches to 25 feet in height. This area is well stocked 

 with Gutta percha, but where there are blanks seedlings were 

 planted. Plenty of young plants are still to be found all over Selan 

 gor, and many have been planted out in the Gutta percha forests. 

 Extraction of Gutta Taban and i>etah sundik was not allowed 

 during the year but as the fact remains that Singapore continues to 

 receive large quantities, it is very probable that much still conies 

 from the Native States. 



Merbau Afzelia palcmbamca, is reported to have seeded plenti- 

 fully in Selangor. It seems to reproduce itself readily, but like 

 penak {Balanocarpus maxima s) a large proportion of its seedlings 

 do not even reach the sapling stage. Meranti, and Tembusu 

 (Fagraea fragrans) seem to be much more successful in the struggle 

 for existence. (This is interesting as the two first mentioned trees 

 do not appear to have any special facilities for dispersal of their 

 seed, which must fall to a large extent close to the parent tree, and 

 all together, whereas Meranti, and Camphor Dryobalanops, also 

 mentioned as a good reproducer, possess winged seeds which drift 

 to some distance from the parent tree when falling and Tembusu 

 fruit is eaten by birds and bats which pass the seed at some dis- 

 tance from the parent tree). Tembusu is mentioned as one of the 

 best trees for driving out Lalang, (and certainly does well on the 

 old tin mines round Kwala Lumpur), Merbau and Chengal {Balauo- 

 carpus) require to be grown with jungle alongside, to keep them 

 clean would be fatal. Two hundred and seventy trees of Merbau 

 were felled and gave 340 tons of sawn wood. 



The methods of extracting timber are very primitive, as a rule a 

 single buffalo is employed to drag it, there being a prejudice 

 against two or more which nothing will shake. In Kwantan most 

 bf the heavy logs are dragged by Chinese lumbermen over a rough 

 track made by laying jungle rollers over large poles at right angles. 

 Large logs are some times dragged as far as two miles in this way. 



